Nine new members have formally signed up to the BBPA-operated SUSTAIN waste packaging compliance scheme, marking a great start to 2015. The new members include Britain’s biggest brewer, Molson Coors, and, for the first time, two leading pub companies. Membership is set to rise further, says the BBPA, as all brewers count the benefits of the scheme.
Joining the SUSTAIN scheme will reduce the cost for BBPA members of buying Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs), as well as providing comprehensive support and industry-specific expertise. Under the new scheme launched in September 2014, brewers can achieve major cost savings.
The nine new members are Molson Coors, Frederic Robinson, Harvey & Son, Joseph Holt, St Austell, JW Lees, Spirit, Enterprise Inns, and Daniel Thwaites. These join Charles Wells, Hook Norton, Black Sheep, Fuller’s and Shepherd Neame, which were the first five members of the scheme.
Brigid Simmonds, BBPA Chief Executive and a director of SUSTAIN, comments:
“This is a great start to 2015, and shows that the SUSTAIN partnership is making the business case to BBPA members as well as delivering for the environment, by reducing waste. We look forward to recruiting further new members.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
The British Beer & Pub Association is the leading body representing Britain’s brewers and pub companies. The Association is more than a century old and was originally founded as the Brewers’ Society in 1904. Our members account for some 90 per cent of beer brewed in Britain today, and own around 20,000 of the nation’s pubs.
For more on SUSTAIN, visit the website here
Watch the promotional film here: http://sustainpartnership.co.uk/
The BBPA published ‘Brewing Green’ its annual review of the industry’s work on sustainability, including C02 reduction and water conservation, in December 2014.
Packaging waste is becoming an increasingly important issue for brewers and pub companies. The legislative framework is set out in the EU Packaging & Packaging Waste Directive (94/62/EC) – ‘The Packaging Directive‘ and is implemented in UK through Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 (as amended) and the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations (as amended).
The EU sets recycling targets for Member States, which have freedom to determine how they are met, with penalties for Member States for non-compliance. To meet its targets, the UK has opted for the ‘market-based’ system of PRNs, which began operating in 1997.
The framework covers companies with a turnover in excess of £2 million and handling more than 50 tonnes of packaging, per year. Companies are obliged to buy PRNs to cover their packaging obligation. PRNs are generated for each tonne of material that is recycled.
The BBPA has been engaged with the development of PRNs since their inception. In 2012, the association urged the Government to review targets for business, and a change was made in the legislation, worth around £15 million per year to the beer and pub sector. Prices had risen dramatically since 2011 but have now started to fall.
SUSTAIN is owned by BBPA Environmental, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BBPA. There are four directors; three BBPA staff and Ian Dixon, an industry expert.
For further information please contact:
David Wilson: Public Affairs Director Tel: 020 7627 9151
Neil Williams, Head of Media, Tel: 020 7627 9156
Neil Williams
Head of Media
British Beer & Pub Association
020 7627 9156
07974 249 779